Porsche pulls out of WEC

Porsche is quitting the FIA World Endurance Championship, pulling the 963 Hybrid from Europe, but it isn’t walking away from prototypes altogether.

The factory-backed Porsche Penske Motorsport operation will stay in the American-based IMSA SportsCar Championship, where Australia’s Matt Campbell remains a central figure.

Campbell and French co-driver Mathieu Jaminet currently lead the GTP standings over Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy by 131 points.

In addition to IMSA, Porsche will continue its presence in Formula E.

It means the Porsche 963 may not get a Le Mans 24 Hours victory after its predecessor 919 won three on the bounce.

Porsche executive board for development Michael Steiner, announced the news.

“We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season,” he said.

Vice President of Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach said IMSA will carry on being a factory effort.

“Our participation in IMSA with the hybrid 963 remains a factory programme, and we will also continue to be active in GT racing,” he said.

“Our trio of drive system types therefore also continues in motorsport. Electrification remains a key pillar of Porsche’s powertrain strategy, both on the road and on the racetrack.

“The development progress we’ve seen in the first 11 years of Formula E has been huge: in the inaugural year of 2014, drivers had to change cars halfway through the race because the batteries wouldn’t last a full race distance,” Laudenbach added.

“Those days are long gone. Next year, the fourth generation of Formula E cars will arrive – the biggest step in performance yet, with more than 800 PS and lap times likely close to those of Formula 2.

“In short there is a great deal of technological knowledge currently being gained in electric motorsport, and our electric sports cars for the road benefit from that. 

“We do not want to diminish those gains in knowledge.”

The deal could have big implications for Campbell’s future as the Porsche star has been approached by others.

“We are lucky enough to have some of the best sportscar drivers in the world on our roster, and we are fully aware of the situation,” Laudenbach said.

“It’s too early at this stage to make any concrete statement, but discussions are of course under way. 

“We plan to announce our 2026 line-up around the time of the Porsche Night of Champions in late November.

“At the same time, it is important to remain focused on the current season.

“We can still win both races and titles at both the final round of the WEC in Bahrain and the IMSA finale at Road Atlanta.”

Image: LAT

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